For some twenty years, the extremely high heat energy of an ionized gas flow has been used for cutting and welding metals, spraying powder compositions etc. When this technique is used for cutting (plasma cutting), the cutting speed can be increased and the range of cutting applications can be extended, compared to conventional gas cutting. In welding, highly reliable joints are obtained, since the method is far less susceptible to variations during welding (varying distances to the workpiece) than other welding methods. In plasma welding, the heating zone in the workpiece is reduced, and the method is also electricity-saving. Since the method came into industrial use, the torches have not changed to any appreciable extent. Thus, the nonmelting electrode connected to the negative pole of a current source and centered in a casing is passed by a gas which then escapes through an orifice at the electrode tip in which it is ionized by the arc generated between the electrode and the workpiece connected to the positive pole of the power source. Through the years, the material of the electrode has however developed according to the character of the plasma generating gas (oxidizing, inert or reducing), and now the electrode frequently consists of a copper holder having an insert of an active material in the arc generation area. Different ways of fixing and centering the electrode as well as different cooling methods, have been used.